Llanero Spanish
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The Llanero Spanish ( es, español llanero) is a variety of Spanish spoken in the
Llanos The Llanos (Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, sav ...
region of
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
and
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
. It is characterized by the mixing of elements from
Old Spanish Old Spanish, also known as Old Castilian ( es, castellano antiguo; osp, romance castellano ), or Medieval Spanish ( es, español medieval), was originally a dialect of Vulgar Latin spoken in the former provinces of the Roman Empire that provided ...
with indigenous elements.


Features


Phonetics

Characteristic features of Llanero Spanish include
yeísmo ''Yeísmo'' (; literally "Y-ism") is a distinctive feature of certain dialects of the Spanish language, characterized by the loss of the traditional palatal lateral approximant phoneme (written ) and its merger into the phoneme (written ), u ...
, rhoticism (e.g., articulation of the /r/ as an /l/ (''vorqueta'' instead of volqueta, a phenomenon seen in Arauca, Colombia), and final /r/ dropping infinitives (e.g., ''ventiá, aserrá, ordeñá, cogé''). Llanero Spanish is also characterized by the articulation of the implosive /s/, the aspirated /s/ (e.g., ''maíh'' for maíz), and /s/ deletion (e.g., ''cataplahma'' for cataplasma) of the /s/ as well. Prevocalic aspiration in place of /s/ can also occur (e.g., (''ji jeñol, eso je li olvida'' = sí señor, eso se le olvida). Intervocalic
stops Stop may refer to: Places *Stop, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States * Stop (Rogatica), a village in Rogatica, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina Facilities * Bus stop * Truck stop, a type of rest stop for truck dri ...
such as /b/, /d/, and /g/ weaken or disappear in llanero speech (''auacero'' for aguacero). The dialect preserves the sound of the written "h" (e.g., ''joyo, jumo, mojo, jallan, sajuma, ajoga, ajita'' for hoyo, humo, moho, hallan, sahúma, ahoga, ahíta) where other dialects have dropped this consonant. It is a feature more seen in
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
, Arauca and Casanare


Grammar

Llanero Spanish suppresses or weakens the final "-s" of
plural The plural (sometimes abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the default quantity represented by that noun. This de ...
nouns (e.g., ''los antioqueño, loj perro, cuatronarice'' (''cuatronarices'' is a local
snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...
species), ''loj padrino.'' Llanero Spanish also has a similar nominal composition to costeño dialects, e.g., ''pativoltiao'' (pata + volteado ie
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
+
adjective In linguistics, an adjective (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that generally grammatical modifier, modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Tra ...
). Formation of past composite of
subjunctive The subjunctive (also known as conjunctive in some languages) is a grammatical mood, a feature of the utterance that indicates the speaker's attitude towards it. Subjunctive forms of verbs are typically used to express various states of unreality ...
with the verb “''ser''”, e.g.: “''Si no fuera'' (hubiera) ''sido por Guadalupe Salcedo''…”.


Lexicon

Some lexical forms of costeño origin registered in the region are: “''cautivar''” (cultivate), “''concha''” (shell or peel), “
pollino The Pollino (Italian: ''Massiccio del Pollino'') is a massif in the southern Apennines, on the border between Basilicata and Calabria, southern Italy. It became part of the Pollino National Park in 1992. The main peaks include Monte Pollino (2,2 ...
” (young donkey), and “''yerna''” (daughter). It also has contributions from Western Colombian as “''hamero''” (wrapper of cob), “''choclo''” (tender
maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
), or “''rabipelao''” (
opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North ...
).


Substrates and contributors


Indigenous Inheritance

Perhaps the most distinguishing quality of Llanero Spanish is its Indigenous inheritance. Many indigenous terms are often incorporated into Llanero speech, including: * The names of regional
plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...
s, such as ''cumare'' (''
Astrocaryum aculeatum ''Astrocaryum aculeatum'' (known in Brazilian Portuguese as ''tucumã'', ''acaiúra'', ''acuiuru'', ''coco-tucumã'', ''tucum'', ''tucumã-açu'', ''tucumã-macaw'', ''tucum-açu'', ''tucumaí-da-terra-firme'', ''tucumãí-uaçu'', ''tucumã-pirir ...
''), ''moriche'' ('' Mauritia flexuosa''), ''mapora'' (''
Roystonea oleracea ''Roystonea oleracea'', sometimes known as the Caribbean royal palm, palmiste, imperial palm or cabbage palm, is a species of palm which is native to the Lesser Antilles, Colombia, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago. It is also reportedly natural ...
''), ''suy, yaray, bototo'', etc. * The names of indigenous cultural objects adopted by the Creole, such as ''chiramo'' (hanging utensil), ''
budare A comal is a smooth, flat griddle typically used in Mexico, Central America, and parts of South America, to cook tortillas and arepas, toast spices and nuts, sear meat, and generally prepare food. Similar cookware is called a budare in South Ame ...
, mapire'' (basket), ''chirama'' (basket) 'catumare'' (palm vessel), ''corota'' (calabash vessel), etc .;'' * The indigenous foods adopted into the Creole cuisine, such as'' majule ('' plantain porridge)'', catibía (''dough of striped
cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively ...
''),'' etc. Maps and geography texts provide an abundance of onomastics of indigenous origin: water names and place names like '' Guatiquía'', ''Guayuriba, Guarca, Guaicaramo''. Perhaps less known is the indigenous contribution to the
anthroponymy Anthroponymy (also anthroponymics or anthroponomastics, from Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος ''anthrōpos'' / 'human', and ὄνομα ''onoma'' / 'name') is the study of ''anthroponyms'', the proper names of human beings, both individual and co ...
seen in the many last names of members of the Spanish-speaking communities, ''Catimay, Cuburuco, Chaquea, Humejé, Tabaco, Tupanteve, Tumay, Achagua, Cuyaré, Chamarrabí, Chipiaje, Errenumá, Guacabare, Gaspaday, Guatumé, Itanare, Pirache, Renumá, Tarache, Yaguiduá, Yavimay, Yaya, Guanay,'' etc.


Internal development

Example of how the operation of the
language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
in the peculiar conditions of Los Llanos will produce more or less specific facts is the reorganization of certain lexical microsystems. Throughout the region of Casanare “''mirar''” has advanced on the semantic field of “''ver''” almost disappeared from ordinary speech to this
verb A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
“''Entonces miró el presidente Rojas Pinilla que el Llano era una gran belleza''”, ''“¿Él no está por aquí? – No, no lo he mirao”''; “''Yo ya no miro pa’ trabajar esta cosa''”; and the same phenomenon is starting to affect the couple “''oír – escuchar''” in which the latter tends to absorb at first. Is also typical of Los Llanos the classification of the grocery grown musaceas in three groups: plantains, bananas and topochos; the great importance in the life of the Llanero has this last variety makes form to it a special class. The indigenous influence also appears in an indirect and mediated way, not in aboriginal
language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
s, but rather because of characteristics specialties of coexistence of native and indigenous communities, characteristics that come to be very indicative of relationships among these communities, that is, between the silent struggle that continues to develop between them, phenomenas characterized by the concepts that the Creole has respect to indigenous: “'' tunebo''” is "''ranger''", “'' guajibo''” to '' shy or reclusive '"( Arauca); and in
Puerto López Puerto López (16,000 inhabitants) is a small fishing village set in an arched bay on the Pacific coast in the Ecuadorian Manabí Province. Puerto Lopéz is the Machalilla National Park headquarters. The main industries include fishing and e ...
a saying that could well explain alone the struggles between the Llaneros and the Indians who caused commotion in the Colombian community was heard: "'Neither donkey is beast' 'or Indian is people' '', or cassava serves for provision''”. And voices of traditional Hispanic roots only common in Los Llanos or used it with a peculiar sense are, among others: “''el cerro''” (the mountain range, the Andes), “''cachilapero''” (the stealing cattle and disfigures its brands), "''cámara, “''camarita''” (compañero, camarada), “''camazo''” ( calabazo), “''caramera''” (cornamenta), 'guate' "(rural person), “''guafa''” (guadua), “''magalla''” (bag for the hammock), “''pompo''” (rough, clumsy), “''saquero''” (cattle buyer), "''soropo''" "ensoropao" (palm leaf wall) etc., etc.


See also

*
Venezuelan Spanish Venezuelan Spanish ( or ) refers to the Spanish spoken in Venezuela. Spanish was introduced in Venezuela by colonists. Most of them were from Galicia, Basque Country, Andalusia, or the Canary Islands. The last has been the most fundamental ...
*
Colombian Spanish Colombian Spanish (Spanish language, Spanish: ''español colombiano'') is a grouping of the varieties of Spanish spoken in Colombia. The term is of more geographical than linguistic relevance, since the dialects spoken in the various regions of ...
{{Languages of Colombia Spanish dialects of South America Venezuelan culture Languages of Venezuela Colombian culture Languages of Colombia Spanish Colombian Venezuelan Spanish